Wednesday, May 16, 2012

The Male POV in YA

It's not news that the majority of young adult stories are from the POV of a girl, just as the majority of people reading these stories are girls. Together, reader-girl and narrator-girl can swoon over the hot boys, cry over breakups, and squeal at that first kiss.

But sometimes a story just needs to be told from a guy's POV. Sometimes a story needs both sides, like my WIP. My plan is to alternate the chapters between the guy and girl. Now, I'm a girl (you didn't know??? gasp!), so trying to authentically portray a dude can be tricky. For research, I'm beefing up my reading list with books that feature a male POV.

Here's what's up first on my radar:

Candor by Pam Bachorz - I started reading this one yesterday and I'm only five chapters in, but already SO intrigued!

The Disenchantments by Nina LaCour

Stupid Fast and Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

I'm probably the last person left to read this book, and I bought it years ago (even met both of them and had my series signed!) but it's just SO HUGE! It's very intimidating. I'm sure I'll be seeing the movie when it comes out, so I must read it before that!

Some I've already read:

Looking for Alaska by John Green, the Perfect Chemistry series by Simone Elkeles has alternating POVs, as does Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma

You make an excellent point, it can be tough to write in the male perspective! Best to research as many books as you can, and you've got a great selection there. :) I really need to read Stupid Fast and Nothing Special.

Also, I thought I was the last person to read Beautiful Creatures. ;) (Though I still haven't read it yet. lol)

All five of my YA series feature both a male and female character, so you get the POV of both. In the 3rd and 4th book, the guy's POV is dominant. And it was fun writing from a male viewpoint! So much simpler...

Well, you've already read WHITE CAT but you could read RED GLOVE - Cassel is one of my favorite boy MCs written by a woman. Ethan from BEAUTIFUL CREATURES was another favorite, I think because both of them weren't trying too hard to "sound like" boys, you know? Sometimes it just goes over the top and doesn't sound legit anymore.

You could try BALTHAZAR by Claudia Gray - it has alternating POVs. So does SLEEPLESS by Cyn Balog...but the boy is from another time, so that might not be helpful. You might also try TEMPEST by Julie Cross - a lot of ppl liked the way she captured the male POV.

But seriously, my go-to will always be the Percy Jackson series. Rick Riordan NAILED the voice in that series. Of course, everything he writes is golden to me...

Great Post! :) My current WIP has two POVs as well. I read Night Sky by Jolene Perry, Male POV. I'm reading What A Boy Wants by Nyrae Dawn. It's pretty ok so far. Thanks for the recommends. def. checking those ones out :)

Lover of books, music, movies, crafty things, and chocolate. My contemporary YA novels WISH YOU WERE ITALIAN, and WHAT YOU ALWAYS WANTED are out now from Bloomsbury. Represented by Marietta Zacker of the Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency.